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Jack Aubrey
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The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (a Finnish translation). The novel was mentioned earlier in this thread.

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On 5/27/2022 at 2:58 PM, Turbine Freight said:

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I have been reading this, off and on. It IS very interesting and right along with my interest in the history of England.

But the writing style is not conducive to long reading sessions. Very dry and matter of fact. The last time I felt this way was Obama's book A Promised Land - very interesting but kind of a "yawner".

 

But so far I have resisted flipping the Kindle back and forth to see the references. That is what I love about books - you can flip around and go right back to where you were. Yes, Kindles do that but always with the touch of this and that menu or drop down list and some navigating of where you want to be and where you were before.

 

Ackroyd lists plenty of archaeological sites and moments of discovery, which I like very much.

 

This book reminded me to look at other histories of Europe. I am also reading The Shortest History of Germany, by James Hawes.

My goodness, could those early European's fight! And, like, fight all the time!! And then fight some more! Fight fight fight!

 

 

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5 hours ago, Bahamas said:

I have been reading this, off and on. It IS very interesting and right along with my interest in the history of England.

But the writing style is not conducive to long reading sessions. Very dry and matter of fact. The last time I felt this way was Obama's book A Promised Land - very interesting but kind of a "yawner".

 

But so far I have resisted flipping the Kindle back and forth to see the references. That is what I love about books - you can flip around and go right back to where you were. Yes, Kindles do that but always with the touch of this and that menu or drop down list and some navigating of where you want to be and where you were before.

 

Ackroyd lists plenty of archaeological sites and moments of discovery, which I like very much.

 

This book reminded me to look at other histories of Europe. I am also reading The Shortest History of Germany, by James Hawes.

My goodness, could those early European's fight! And, like, fight all the time!! And then fight some more! Fight fight fight!

 

 

 

 

I agree. I've read a chapter or two at a time then read something else then come back to it for another chapter etc. It is informative though. I learnt a lot. I will read the whole series I think.

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This! It's both informative and funny. I needed a little "mental comfort food" after Don Quixote!

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=lPptAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0

 

 

 

 

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8 hours ago, Jack Aubrey said:

This! It's both informative and funny. I needed a little "mental comfort food" after Don Quixote!

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=lPptAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0

 

 

 

 

:laugh2: Bet that will be funny...You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means

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11 hours ago, pjbear05 said:

The Storyteller:  Tales of Life and Music, by Dave Grohl.

I listened to part of the audio, narrated by Grohl.  Was good bet you will enjoy it. 

Still listening to the Universal Tone by Santana...very cool

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On 7/10/2022 at 10:28 PM, Rhyta said:

I listened to part of the audio, narrated by Grohl.  Was good bet you will enjoy it. 

Still listening to the Universal Tone by Santana...very cool

YES, very enjoyable book.  Lots of amazing stories.

Now up:  Forever Dog, by Rodney Habib and Dr. Karen Shaw Becker (veterinarian).  Are you a dog owner, or planning to become one?  You need to read this!

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On 7/10/2022 at 10:26 PM, Rhyta said:

:laugh2: Bet that will be funny...You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means

 Care to share?

("funny"?)

 

I look for the titles and posts about the content of the books, but I don't always get the nuance of the subject of a post, the side-references. Call me a dullard, fine. 

This is, perhaps, one of my most acted upon topics, as it has lead me to so many titles I wouldn't have otherwise known. And, to be fair, a lot of Neil's suggestions.

 

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3 hours ago, Bahamas said:

 Care to share?

("funny"?)

 

I look for the titles and posts about the content of the books, but I don't always get the nuance of the subject of a post, the side-references. Call me a dullard, fine. 

This is, perhaps, one of my most acted upon topics, as it has lead me to so many titles I wouldn't have otherwise known. And, to be fair, a lot of Neil's suggestions.

 

Pjbear was reading As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride.  Figured it would be funny since there were so many great lines in the movie.

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Having a bit of an adventure with my reading of Santana's memoir The Universal Tone.  Started it on audio but have been reading the hard back a bit  and e-book at night.  Checked the book out to see the pictures.  Then I remembered I have another bio on Santana called Soul Sacrifice.  So I went back and read some of it, trying to mesh the two chronologically.  It has been informative yet I think I like Santana's book better.  The author of the other book goes overboard in describing songs on their albums...too much ecstasy and sexual releases :laugh2:.  Of course Rolling Stone had a ridiculous review of their music calling it psychedelic mariachi :unsure:

 

Have been enjoying reading the last few days since it is too damn hot to do much else :sad:

Edited by Rhyta
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I feel like taking it easy, so here's another light read for my summer holiday: Happiness for humans by P. Z. Reizin. It's been ok so far and has given me some laughs as well.

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6 hours ago, Sun & Moon said:

I feel like taking it easy, so here's another light read for my summer holiday: Happiness for humans by P. Z. Reizin. It's been ok so far and has given me some laughs as well.

The premise sounds intriguing,  AI as matchmaker.  I saw one person on Goodreads called it Jane Austen with computers...have to let us know how it turns out.

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15 hours ago, Rhyta said:

The premise sounds intriguing,  AI as matchmaker.  I saw one person on Goodreads called it Jane Austen with computers...have to let us know how it turns out.

It turned out to be quite a mess with that AI aspect involved. :biggrin: :comp::wub: A fun read with some witty-ish moments. A slightly different way to tell a romantic story.

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On 8/1/2022 at 12:40 AM, Sun & Moon said:

I feel like taking it easy, so here's another light read for my summer holiday: Happiness for humans by P. Z. Reizin. It's been ok so far and has given me some laughs as well.

I am going to read this at the weekend! Hope to enjoy it :smile:

Edited by Julista
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2 hours ago, Julista said:

I am going to read this at the weekend! Hope to enjoy it

This book was a perfect one for summer vacation. Hope you'll enjoy it as well!

 

And welcome to TRF, Julista! :cheer::smile: I'm always glad to see new faces here! :smile:

Edited by Sun & Moon
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Since reading The Notebook I read two other Nicholas Sparks novels (Message in a Bottle and Nights in Rodanthe), and I'm currently reading The Rescue.

 

What can be said about these books? The storylines and many details are overtly calculated, and there are themes and surroundings that keep coming up from novel to novel (not in good or bad). North Carolina, losing someone, surviving as a single parent, being surprised by love, insecurities, storms, seaside, sex. Working part time in a library. :biggrin: The beauty of nature. Sparks is good at observing human gestures and body language and describing everyday life and worries. He knows how to write an entertaining story that's easy to relax with. Nothing larger than life, but writing a romantic novel that will not completely bore the reader to death is a skill. 

 

(While I was reading these books I did some Google searches on the different places that the stories locate in. Rodanthe and the Outer Banks area in NC seem very beautiful. I love seashores, so these surroundings are a real plus to me. Travelling through stories is nice.)

Edited by Sun & Moon
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7 hours ago, Sun & Moon said:

Since reading The Notebook I read two other Nicholas Sparks novels (Message in a Bottle and Nights in Rodanthe), and I'm currently reading The Rescue.

 

What can be said about these books? The storylines and many details are overtly calculated, and there are themes and surroundings that keep coming up from novel to novel (not in good or bad). North Carolina, losing someone, surviving as a single parent, being surprised by love, insecurities, storms, seaside, sex. Working part time in a library. :biggrin: The beauty of nature. Sparks is good at observing human gestures and body language and describing everyday life and worries. He knows how to write an entertaining story that's easy to relax with. Nothing larger than life, but writing a romantic novel that will not completely bore the reader to death is a skill. 

 

(While I was reading these books I did some Google searches on the different places that the stories locate in. Rodanthe and the Outer Banks area in NC seem very beautiful. I love seashores, so these surroundings are a real plus to me. Travelling through stories is nice.)

Nicholas Sparks' books are a great read! Our family always vacationed in the Outer Banks area for many, many years. It is a really beautiful place! I hope you get to see it someday! 

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Ballpark by Paul Goldberger.

 

Less "reading" than "listening to" since it's an audio book (my commute is longer these days). It's a history of the architecture, symbolism, and significance of baseball parks in the US. It's interesting, and I'd recommend it as I've already learned a lot -- I had to look up the "Beaux Arts" school because since I'm only hearing it, I couldn't figure out what "bozart" architecture was! Anyway, I'm up to the completion of the "golden age" parks which ended with Yankee Stadium, the first ballpark to call itself a "stadium" ala the Roman concept. New Yorkers, man.

 

There are some drawbacks: the author uses certain words and phrases over and over, so prepare to quickly tire of "entrepreneur" and the Latin phrase "rus in urbe" ("the country in the city").

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